Rangers Notes: Shields, Reliever, Wood, Rule 5

James Shields and his representatives met with the Rangers during the Winter Meetings, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reports. Jon Daniels confirmed the meeting with reporters (including T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com) but said that it was largely a case of due diligence and because Shields lived in San Diego. “We wanted to be prepared if anything changes drastically. We enjoyed it, we like the guy a lot. In other circumstances we would like to have him. It was a function of him living out here so we took advantage of it,” Daniels said. “We’re not going to be in the top level of free agents. It would take something substantial to change to get involved with those free agents.”

Starting pitching is still the Rangers’ top priority, Daniels said, and while they likely won’t make a splash for someone like Shields, the club is keeping its payroll options open for future moves. “One of the reasons we haven’t acted on other stuff is that we want to make sure we have resources to act on pitching. We’ve elected to not spend dollars elsewhere,” Daniels said.

The Rangers are getting a lot of interest in their No. 3 overall pick in tomorrow’s Rule 5 Draft, Wilsontweets. If Texas does decide to trade the pick, it will be for a player and not for money, Wilson said.